The designation freezes any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction and bans any U.S. person from doing business with them.

Haji Agha Jan Alizai, who operates one of the largest drug networks in battle-torn Helmand Province, paid the Taliban in exchange for protection of his narcotrafficking activities, the Treasury said in the statement. He also purchased weapons for the Taliban and traveled to Pakistan regularly to meet with its leadership, the statement said.

“Today’s action, building on the President’s identification of Alizai as a drug kingpin in June, is aimed at further disrupting the financial networks of these individuals who are fueling the insurgency in Afghanistan,” said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in the statement.

Saleh Mohammad Kakar, who runs smuggling networks in Kandahar, as well as Helmand Province, has collected cash on the behalf of the Taliban from narcotraffickers, and managed and hid money belonging to senior Taliban members, the Treasury said.

Kakar was also responsible for facilitating tax payments to the Taliban on behalf of narcotraffickers, and he provided the Taliban with vehicles for use in suicide attacks from a car dealership that he owned, the statement said.

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[...] Treasury has taken similar action against Afghan drug traffickers, sanctioning them in October 2010 for alleged ties to the Taliban. Since June 2000, the Treasury has designated nearly 1,000 [...]

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